A change of plans

Allright, I can hear you laughing since I change things a lot, but I did it again!  I did not like the wool and it did not brush up very much doing the irregular gobelin stitches.  So, I changed to Alpaca and used two strands and am doing Colonial knots.  I know....more knots, but I think it looks more better......more better....where did that come from??  I think it looks more like sheep's wool and I am also using two colors.....time for me to take a typing break!

Little progress

Sorry there is no photo tonight.  I finished the mountains at the bottom of the canvas and started doing the Interlocking split stitch.  I did not like it.  I pulled it all out.  Better luck on that tomorrow.  In the meantime, Judy has asked me who the artist was on this.    Suffolk sheep was an original art piece painted by Beth Van Hoesen and this canvas interpretation was done  by Doris Gustafson.  Otto was stitched by Susan Portra and written up in 1991, and I saw the canvas on eBay and bid on it.

I can hear you

Yes, Otto is listening to what is going on!  His ear is finished.  I started by padding horizontally and diagonally and did four layers of padded stitches.  I then came back and laid six strands of floss over the gray area.  I then did basketweave with six strands of black for the bottom section of his ear.  Next I put in a few more rows of muntains under his chin and in the corner.  I realized that I should go ahead and finish Otto and take him to his new home at Christmas, so I will work on him until he is finished, which should not take too long!

The last French knot!

It is true!  The holiday is over, the shopping is done, and I took my niece to the airport.  So I sat down and started the rest of the French knots on Otto's neck......and much to my delight I finished them!  Yippee...Woohoo...Happy dancing....and all that jazz!  What an amazing number of knots, but so effective for texture on a sheep.  Otto is very pleased with himself and is waiting patiently for me to do his ear so he can better hear what is going on!  I started by laying in the first of padding stitches.

I made it....

all the way to the bottom on the right quandrant!  Woohoo!  Even though it seems slow going, I am making progress on the Double Stitch.  Using the two strands of Waterlilies, I am working my way down the right side
and have mad the decision that I will work the heart designs once all the background is done.  The heart designs stitch up very quickly but as you know backgrounds take forever!  I still also have to complete the bow streamer on the left side as well.  Progress is progress!

A little further along

Moving on to fill in the A section, I am using two strands of the pink overdye to create a four short four long stitch pattern at the bottom of this column.  I did not get as much of this done as I would like but it has been a very busy weekend and day!  This pattern is creating space that will be filled in shortly.  This is a closeup that is very close to actual color of both the canvas and thread.

Cosmetics

I spent more time stitching in Wild Woman's face and have filled in from the top of her glass and down diagonally across her hose.  I am using 4 strands of Splendor and doing basketweave for her "foundation".  I am using the Bohin needle on this piece and am finding it very smooth and easy in my hand so far.

Two surprises!

First, the Ultrasuede bag arrived that Orna Willis gave away on her blog!  It arrived with a very nice note and it is fabulous!  So soft to touch, yet sturdy and it stands up nicely.  It has a wonderful snap to close the top!

Next, Lacquered Leaves is framed.  Maggie put a beautiful silk mat on this piece and the simple yet elegant gold frame sets this piece off!

Will you look at that neck?

I made significant progress on filling in Otto's neck!  I can see the light at the end of the French Knot tunnel!  Yippee!  And, there was no chuckling tonight....just a great deal of patience on his part!  In an earlier post, I was asked how I do the French knots on canvas.  I am using six strands of DMC floss and I wrap the needle twice after coming up in an empty hole.  I then go down into an adjacent hole over at least one canvas thread or intersection.  Hope that helps!

Black and White

I finished the right most full black section in Alicia Lace with the single strand of flower thread.  Then I worked the second layer of white on the right most leaf, and moved on to start the last black section on the right. 

Another petal

I am working on the foreground poppy and have now completed the entire back right petal, along with the curve on the center petal.  I have started the back left petal with the first layer of long and short.  As I am working with a single strand, it does take a while to create the petals, but they are worth the time. 

Another inch or so

I worked the Double Stitch in the two strands of Waterlilies again tonight and think it is just about an inch further down the right side all the way across.  Maybe?.  Way down at the bottom is a basting row of black thread, so I can tell when it is done- the line is level with the bottom of the bow.

And Sunday will be....

Aurora Borealis Revisited 2001 by Marnie Ritter.  I picked this kit up from Ms. Ritter at Callaway Gardens at Merchandise night.  It is the full kit including the 16 x 18 line drawn canvas, all the fibers, and the instructions.  she designed the original piece in 1990 for the cover of Needlepoint Now.  Revisited is updated to needlepoint today with new colors, threads and patterns.  There are 33 different patterns in the piece and the colors are a compliment to the original design.  I think I even have the original pattern for the 1990 design but have yet to stitch it.  In her commentary she states that this one has a more open feel to it and the patterns are somewhat changed.  I started by stitching per the instructions in the center of the design and used Madiera to work the gold lines and then started the first pattern section in Needle Necessities.

Do you remember?

Do you remember me showing you this one?  This canvas is from Colonial Needle and she fits one of the tote bags.  I call her Wild Woman....just look at that hair!!  What fun!!  Let's get started!

I am working on her face first.  I am also trying out one of the Bohin needles to see how I like stitching with it.
I am using two strands of Splendor and it may be a little hard for you to see, but I have done her forehead, down her nose and under her eyes....just to the top of her glasses.  Since this piece is going on the front of a bag that I will carry a lot, I am going to try not to get too carried away with her, but she is going to be a lot of fun.

B-R-R-R-R-R-D Bath

Friday's stitching is going to be B-r-r-r-r-r-d Bath, a Charley Harper design, by Treglown Designs.  It is set on 18 x 18 stretcher bars, and you can see I have an assortment of the fibers I will be using to stitch the piece.  I am busy deciding on stitches tonight and I have all Splendor except the whites in the top right corner.  Those are the possibles for the snow.

So for Thursday....

Yes, it is Otto!  Otto has the Thursday slot and he is not minding a bit.  I was working on the French knots on his neck again tonight, trying to complete these pretty soon.  And, then he just chuckled!  I guess he is ticklish under his chin.....

Black & White

I have been getting all my rotation projects back out and this is Wednesday's.  To refresh this is called Lace Fan and was a class I took at Carolinas seminar in 2001!  Since I had finished the other fan design that Marilyn had done, I also wanted to finish this one.  I worked on it a bit a while back and it is now officially in the rotation to complete.  Both the black and white areas are worked in Alicia Lace.  I have quite a bit of the white in so tonight I worked on the black with the flower thread and completed the right most two sections.  My plan is to get back to the seven project rotation (Monday is Gift of Love bow, Tuesday is Oriental Poppies) and you will have to see what is up for tomorrow.

The third poppy

I started the third or foreground poppy.  I first outlined all of the outside petal edges with a single strand of the Splendor.  Next and again with a single strand I have started filling in the back petal and the curve of one of the center petal in the long and short stitch.This flower is a reversal of colors in that the center is going to be the darker shades and the outer edges will be the palest.

Compensating Background

I continued working on the background on the right side of Gifts of Love Bow tonight.  This entails a great deal of compensating around the hearts but it is almost down to the end of the right hand ribbon tail.  I am using two strands of Waterlilies Ice to do the Double Stitch.

The finish.

Betty's box is done.  I used the base provided by Sudberry and cut one piece of batting the same size and then cust two others each 1/2 smaller than the base.  I glued those in place and let it dry.  Then I wanted some glitz behind the piece and found a pink chiffon with some glitter sprinkled on.  From the last harem costume....no, not really, from a wedding shower.  Really!  Next, the piece itself.  After I placed all of that and secured it with two sided sticky tape, I did the twisted cord with the Splendor mauvy one and the Kreinik #8 braid and glued it around the edge.  I am sure she is going to like this piece!

Another one is ready

I finished stitching the design tonight.  I finished border one with the Frosty Rays, and then did Border number two with the Fyre Werks.  I added the beads to the pink Slendor areas and sprinkled a few on the green center design.  Tomorrow I will finish this into the Sudberry box top!

More and More

I got a little more time to stitch today.  I finished all the Splendor pattern and then used Kreinik #8 to create the four corner designs in 3232.  Next I started the first border using Frosty Rays and in a Gobelin stitch.  I just have a little bit of it left and I can start the second border.  This is being worked on an 8 x 8 frame.

Working my way around

I finished one side of the pattern and almost all of the second one.  All four sides will have this design when I complete them.  It is a bit of a trick to count this one, but so far I have not ripped any out!  My friend's favorite colors are the sage and the mauvy pinks so this is going to fit in nicely.

A small favor

This is called Solid Geometry II and was designed by Nina Soltwedel and was an EGA chapter project.  One of my stitching friends has macular degeneration and can no longer stitch but really wants this piece to go in a Sudberry box she has.  This piece is worked on Sage Green 18 count and I am hoping to finish this for her in a couple of days.  I started with the center design using a single strand of Frye Werks.  The stitches above are laid in with 4 strands of Splendor....I will get to stitch a lot longer tomorrow night so should make much better progress.

Feeling lucky

Wow!  Did you see Orna Willis' blog ornaments?

http://ornadesign.blogspot.com/2010/11/giveaway-winner-is.html

I won her lovely Ultrasuede bag and I am just thrilled!
See, it pays to leave a comment once in a while!!  Anyway, after reading all that and just smiling away I read about this blog.


Just wanted all my friends to know that starting tomorrow, I'll be having seven days of contest on my blog. I'm celebrating Aidan's birthday!! For those who might not know...she is my little darling grand daughter. So, hope you go and check out the blog and enter to win all the freebies!

The first post is scheduled to go live at 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday morning...2nd of November!...

but, not to worry...you don't have to get in a hurry, the contest will last all day each day. Seven times to win...seven different contests...seven different prizes!

Good Luck!

Kathy
(aka Shawkl)

Blog: www.shawkl.com

Please go and visit Kathy's blog as she is very creative and leave a note and you may be the next one smiling away!

Knot again

I started off again with the six strands of DMC 413 and did knot after knot under his ear and at his jaw line....it really is starting to fill in.  Even DH said "the goat is filling in"....what does he know?.  Then I worked on the diagonal stittches again using the DMC #5 Varitions in 4140.  When Susan Portra did this piece she states that the denseness of all the French knots called out for the open background which are supposed to look like mountains off in the distance.  I like how it looks and that the entire background does not have to be stitched.  More on that later!